Kim Bo-ram, taking an interview with Ewha Voice at Law & Economics Service Hyun Baek.Photo by Heo Sol.

Having studied English Language and Literature at Ewha, Kim Bo-ram has always been interested in reading and writing of all kinds from school newspapers to literary works. Kim’s passion for reading led her to become more aware of social issues around her and eventually become a lawyer.

Currently working as a private attorney at Law & Economics Service Hyun Baek, Kim strives to uphold children and women’s rights.

“Studying at Ewha constantly offered the chance to discuss women and children’s rights, so I could naturally engage with those topics as a student,” Kim said.

Her interest in protecting women’s rights led her to work as a joint counsel in defending the victims of the film director Kim Ki-duk and theater director Lee Yoon-taek sexual abuse case during the Me Too movement.

“There were more than a hundred lawyers devoting their time and effort to defend the victims,” Kim said. “I got to join in as other lawyers whom I had worked with before offered me the opportunity. These cases for public interests are accomplished by the efforts and devotions of public corporations and lawyers. I was just one of them and there are so many others to whom I would like to express my gratitude to.”

Kim was also chosen as the “2018 Korea’s Innovative Leaders” by the newsletter Newsmaker. She was praised for possessing excellent abilities of empathic capacity and rational intellect in solving problems concerning human rights. With her legal expertise, Kim had much to share about the Telegram Nth Room and Baksabang cases where sexually exploitative videos were spread via the Telegram app.

Kim emphasized that the main reason protecting women and children in digital media space was so difficult was because of the unstoppable dissemination of sex exploitation videos.

“Females are always under the threat of sex exploitation videos spreading across the Internet,” Kim said. “Due to this fear, they mistakenly believe that they should do everything the perpetrators tell them to do in order to stop the dissemination. However, what they need to know is that the spread of the videos has more chances of being stopped when they notify the police.”

With voices being raised about punishing the members of the Nth Room and Baksabang as well as the operators, Kim noted the weak regulations for punishing members who watched the video.

“So far, the viewers who watched the pornographic material have not been punished,” she said. “Punishing the viewers is so complicated as there is no precedent. However, the Ministry of Justice is discussing treating the viewers as part of a criminal organization, which will contribute to protecting women and girls from being sexually exploited in cyberspace.”

When asked about the level of punishment for sexual exploitation of children and adolescents in Korea, Kim replied that the sentencing was less severe than in other countries. She added that stricter sentencing for offenders will lead to a decrease in sexual exploitation crimes.

Furthermore, she emphasized the need for our society to sympathize with the idea that sexual exploitation in the digital world is a crime that is as serious as murder.

“People tend to think that sexual abuse on the Internet is less serious than such crimes committed in real life settings,” Kim added. “However, I think these thoughts only made sense before technology had developed. Children and adolescents can make mistakes when they are young, but it will continue to harm them when they recall what happened after they grow up. It’s just another kind of murder.”

“People come to see lawyers in their most difficult times, and lawyers truly empathize with them and try to think of the best solutions for them,” Kim concluded. “I hope to meet passionate lawyers from Ewha who are ready to do that in the future.”